Across the August Bank Holiday weekend 75,000 rockers, ravers, punks, moshers and everything in between descend on Bramham Park and Reading city centre for one of the biggest festivals of the year, and one final send off for the festival season - Reading And Leeds.
Kicking off proceedings on the NME/Radio 1 tent were Scottish 'fight pop' six piece
Dananananaykroyd (the name's a blend of the actor Dan Aykroyd and the Batman theme tune). Blasting through tracks from the outstanding debut 'Hey Everyone', including the FIFA 2010 endorsed 'Black Wax' they end on 'Infinity Milk', with heavy peaks and delicate, chiming guitar riffs. Onstage antics include two vocalists spinning microphones around their heads, throwing themselves into the crowd and generally flailing around while they blast through songs which are as ear shatteringly heavy as they are tentitavely formed.
A rather damp Main Stage is a suitable place for aging post-punkers
Taking Back Sunday. Although they show signs of their past glory ('Makedamnsure' ends the set well), the rock veterans' attempts to wow the crowd with average new tracks and half hearted renditions of old classics aren't helped by singer Adam Lazzara's statement that "we are the greatest band on the planet." However I must admit his mic swinging skills are second to none.
English singer/songwriter and ex Million Dead frontman
Frank Turner does well to liven spirits in the cold rain. His songs about punk rock, British society and ex girlfriends make for good singalongs, but the typical Northern English weather makes his set tricky to enjoy.
It's a similar story for post-hardcore band
Enter Shikari. There's plenty of energy on the stage and in the mosh pits, but you can't help but feel glorious sunshine and blue sky are the only things missing to make their set a great one. 'Sorry You're Not a Winner' keeps the hands warm, with its almost comical audience clap-along fill, however their musical interludes which dabble with dub-step are about as effective as damp gunpowder. Perhaps the NME/Radio1 tent would've been a better place for a band more suited to dark, cramped spaces - for best effect see them out of the elements.
Twin Atlantic bring out a second dose of Scottish pride for me - it's great to see a band from north of the border be so well received in England. Tracks from this year's album 'Free' and mini-album 'Vivarium' gel brilliantly in a flurry of Scot-rock, and no Twin Atlantic show would be complete if it didn't include singer Sam McTrusty stage diving and his guitar somehow malfunctioning (this time his strap went during set closer 'Time For You to Stand Up').
From the first chimes of
Death From Above 1979's set in the NME/Radio1 tent it was clear they were taking no prisoners. 'Turn It Out' opens up a 20 foot mosh pit and the newly reformed Canadian duo play as if they haven't been away. The simplistic brilliance of drums and bass guitar being mashed as loudly and heavily as possible is the key to DFA's success - with the odd chorus thrown in for good measure. It's too easy to say they're heavy metal - there are no face shredding electric guitar riffs - and it'd be a disgrace to the genre to call them blues, however they somehow fit into a niche between the two never before heard. Imagine The Black Keys covering Metallica and you've got something that sounds a little similar to DFA, and my God it rocks.
In about as stark a contrast as experienced all weekend, a quick dash across to the Main Stage finds me watching
Elbow. The Guy Garvey lead five piece are perfect for an early evening set. With the sky cleared up and the sun setting, Elbow's atmospheric, slow burning music is a beautiful experience. Each song is perfectly formed, their set is peppered with both delicate musical instrumentals and those uplifting anthems they're famous for. 'Open Arms', 'One Day Like This', and 'Grounds For Divorce' are all brilliant sing along choruses and Guy Garvey is a wonderful frontman.
And then the main event of the evening.
Muse were reason most people bought tickets for Reading and Leeds this year. Marking the ten year anniversary of the release of 'Origin of Symmetry', the band first appear in silhouette form before the opening keys of 'Newborn' confirm the rumours that they were playing 'Origin' it its entirety and in order. 40 foot graphics on the big screen behind the band compliment 'Origin''s spaced out themes. Every rock cliché in the book is used; fireworks, lazers, balloons that explode into confetti, even walls of fire in front of the stage. 'Newborn', 'Feeling Good' and the guitar riff-tastic 'Plugin Baby' provide some familiarity for those here to hear tracks from the Wembley filling album 'The Resistence' and Matt Bellamy is the ultimate show man. In a sparkling suit jacket even
Barney Stinson would be proud of, his Freddie Mercury inspired piano instrumentals and whining vocals provide a brilliant contrast to his all out rock side. Be it sliding on his knees playing a guitar solo, throwing one guitar at the ground or launching another at drummer Dom Howard, forcing him to duck out the way, Bellamy is the perfect modern day showman. After 'Origin' is played from front to back, an encore mid-set gives way to a greatest hits set which is sublime in its familiarity. From second half opener 'Uprising', through 'Supermassive Black Hole', 'Time Is Running Out' and 'Knights of Cydonia', the band are obviously far more comfortable in their more modern tracks, the ones which helped them sell out the world's football stadiums. However it's the tracks from the first half of their headline set which made the band what they are today. The band who played undoubtedly the best set in Reading and Leeds' recent history.
